CARDIOVASCULAR disease is the No 1 killer of women around the world, responsible for more than two million premature deaths each year.
Policy experts and scientists from around the world have highlighted the epidemic of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in women at the World Congress of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Health in Mexico.
In sub-Saharan Africa, premature cardiovascular deaths totalled more than 200 000 in 2013. Experts estimate that if current trends continue, premature deaths in 2025 will be close to 300 000.
“Preventing and managing CVDs in women is absolutely vital if we are to meet the target of reducing CVD deaths by 25% by 2025,” said Johanna Ralston, officer of the World Heart Federation, calling for education initiatives for women on what to look out for.
“As well as educating health professionals, we need women to know what to look out for. Many women today think cancer is the biggest threat to their health, when in fact it’s their heart.”
Typical heart attack symptoms for women tend not to be the classic “tightness”, discomfort or chest pain.
Instead the range of sensations include an uneasy feeling in the chest, abdominal pain, a fluttering heartbeat, shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, fainting and swollen feet.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation in SA says one in four women will have some form of heart condition before the age of 60.
The signs and symptoms of heart disease in women can differ from those in men, and so can be more easily missed or attributed to other illnesses. Women also often wait longer to go to the emergency department when having a heart attack. This means women are more likely than men to die from a heart attack and are also more likely to be seriously disabled or have problems following a stroke, experts said.
Women in low- and middle-income countries who develop CVDs are also more likely to die from it than those living elsewhere in the world, and these deaths are predicted to increase over the next decade unless more is done to tackle the problem.
Coronary Heart Disease affects women approximately 10 years later than men, possibly because of the protective effect of oestrogen prior to the onset of menopause. Once women reach menopause, the risk of heart disease increases three times.
Kathryn Taubert, vice-president of Global Strategies for the American Heart Association and co-chair of the conference, said along with people from minority backgrounds, women have historically been under-represented in clinical trials so there has been a lack of awareness about how the symptoms of CVDs can differ from those that often present in men.
She said many women and even some health professionals still attribute some of their symptoms to something else.
“Now we need to catch up. We know that women who are diagnosed early on and offered appropriately tailored treatment options have vastly improved outcomes.”